


Love Language

by cleo4u2



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Boys In Love, Captain America: The First Avenger, Don't copy to another site, Epiphany, Falling In Love, Fluff, Gen Work, Happy Ending, M/M, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Pure sap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-28 17:17:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19398775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cleo4u2/pseuds/cleo4u2
Summary: Two times Bucky Barnes realizes how much he loves Steve Rogers.





	Love Language

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NurseDarry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NurseDarry/gifts).



> This fic exists because, and was beta'd by, [NurseDarry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NurseDarry/profile). Thank you for being an inspiration and donating to KIND! Her prompt was: "Stucky, propeller, rifle, blue [T-E]".
> 
> Additional thanks to [Kajmere](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kajmere/profile) for proof reading!

They’re flying over France when Bucky figures it out. 

For years he’s known Steve was gay, ever since he was seventeen and caught Steve kissing Tommy Warner under the Coney Island pier. He’d never cared, so long as Steve was safe and happy. That’s all that has ever mattered to Bucky: Steve’s happiness. He taught Steve to box when that much activity could give him a heart attack at worst, or an asthma attack at best. He took Steve on the rickety Cyclone despite the bruises he walked away with. He’s done things for Steve he would never do for another person so sickly, but he’s always had a weak spot for Steve. 

_A weak spot, right_ , he thinks as he fumbles his rifle, nearly dropping it as he has his epiphany. Looking at Steve, he can’t believe he hasn’t realized how he felt before now. Thick with muscle, he’s nothing like the short, skinny kid Bucky grew up with. He’s strong and fast, his heart pumps without a hitch, and his lungs don’t seize up if smoke is blown his way. The transformation is a true miracle, and not just because Bucky is no longer strapped to a table, being experimented on by that weasel, Dr. Zola. No, Steve should have been dead many times over, but he sits now, going over their mission again and again, in a body that can finally keep up with his mind and spirit.

Feeling Bucky’s gaze, Steve looks up and smiles, a little quirk of his lips to the left, and Bucky’s heart swells with fondness. Steve is no _weak spot_. Bucky’s in love. He’s been in love since god knows when. It explains so much. Why no girl was ever good enough, why he would rather have Steve with him on a failed date than go alone, and why he’s never done a damn thing in his life without considering how it would affect Steve first. 

Steve must see something on his face because he raises a curious eyebrow. Bucky doesn’t know what to say. Love, god, he’s in love with his best friend; a walking miracle, a war hero. Bucky’s never been in love before, not the way he is now, looking at Steve. 

Taking a trembling breath, he shakes his head and waves a hand. _Later_ , he says without a word, and Steve understands because he knows Bucky that well. They’ve never had to speak to communicate. They’ve fought like cats and dogs, but they’ve always been like this, two peas in a pod, living out of each other's' pockets. Like this moment was meant to be. Like _they_ were meant to be. 

How didn’t he know earlier? It’s the wrong question. How could he ever have thought he would fall for anyone else?

When Steve frowns instead of nodding in agreement, Bucky isn’t really surprised. If he’s nothing else, Steve is stubborn. Instead of just waiting for later, he gets up and moves to Bucky’s side. The plane is loud, the propellers outside droning on so one has to shout to be heard. That’s the problem, really. Bucky doesn’t want to be shouting when he tells Steve what he feels.

Steve’s fingers touch Bucky’s sleeve, asking him what’s wrong.

 _Nothing_ , Bucky wants to say, but shouting will draw attention from the others. Instead he rolls his eyes because there isn’t a damn thing wrong. He’s alive; battered, but alive and so is Steve. Better than alive, Steve is whole, healthy, and perfect, and Bucky is head over heels for his best friend.

Despite his response, Steve is still not having it. That wrinkle appears between his blue eyes, the one that’s formed over decades of Steve fighting battles he just can’t let go. Bucky knows better than to argue with that wrinkle. 

Reaching up, he brushes his index finger over that dark line that he knows so well. It vanishes with the brief touch, Steve’s eyes turning into big, wide pools of surprise. The touch itself isn’t what unsettles Steve’s footing, though, Bucky knows that. They touch all the time. No one else would see the small contact as odd, especially if they knew them well. No, it’s the look on his own face that has Steve off balance. Bucky’s in love and he’s not trying to hide it. Not even if Steve doesn’t feel the same, that’ll be fine. 

It’s _Steve_ , for Christ’s sake, the best guy Bucky has ever known, but he gets the feeling they’ve been together for a long time and Bucky had just been oblivious. Steve goes out whenever Bucky asks, even though he hates it. He’d let Bucky help him after his mom died, moved into a flat with him and let him pay more than his share of the bills. Bucky can’t think of a single soul Steve would do that with - no one but him - because Steve hates being vulnerable. Not that he likes being vulnerable with Bucky, but he’s _willing,_ and Bucky should have known what that meant.

Lips parting, Steve’s hand reaches for Bucky in a jerky movement that’s aborted halfway to Bucky’s side. Bucky can practically hear his thoughts, _Is this real? Do you mean it?_

Nodding, Bucky wishes he could say it aloud. He wishes he could hear Steve say it back. _I love you,_ he wants to whisper into Steve’s ear, press against his lips, and kiss into his skin. They’ve said it before, but it will mean so much more this time. If he could scream it to the world, he would, but that won’t ever be an option, not when it would ruin all of Steve’s dreams.

Bucky shrugs and rubs at the back of his neck, saying, _Usually you’re the stupid one_. He knows Steve will know what he means. He means he’s sorry it took so long for him to figure out. That’s not really a surprise, either. Steve _is_ his weak spot, his blind spot, that piece of his life that is so obvious he never questions it. Of course Steve will be there, with him, for the rest of his life. How could it be any other way? 

Steve is staring at him with his mouth hanging open, looking as though he hardly believes that Bucky is serious. If only Bucky could say those words now. If Bucky could say that Steve is the only one he needs, he’d wipe that expression away in a heartbeat. He can’t say it, though, not here. Not when he would have to shout over the noise of the props and everyone in the damn plane would hear.

Still, he has to say it somehow, and he knows just how. Pulling his dog tags from beneath his shirt, he undoes the clasp and holds out his hand, impatient for Steve to do the same. When he has those little bits of metal in his palm, it takes only moments to switch one of Steve’s with one of his own. When he hands back the chain, the blue of Steve’s eyes glitter behind unshed tears. As one, they put the tags back on and tuck the little rectangles away. He can’t see it, but his name hangs around Steve’s neck, just as Steve’s hangs around his own. 

Once again, Bucky’s heart swells near to bursting with fondness for the big blond idiot before him. He hasn’t seen Steve smile like that since… No, Bucky’s never seen Steve smile like this, with his whole being, and he can’t help but smile back. 

Still grinning, he taps Steve’s shoulder with his closed fist. Steve laughs, head tipping back, as he presses a hand to his chest. _Pair of idiots_ , Bucky had said, and Steve understood because they didn’t have to speak to know what the other was saying. 

It had just taken Bucky awhile to realize Steve had been saying, _I love you_ , their entire lives.

\----

Eighty years later, sitting in his home in Wakanda, Bucky looks up at Steve and feels that same burst of affection from that day on the plane. His breath catches in his throat, making Steve look up from his book. Attuned to Bucky as if they had never been apart for a single moment, he doesn’t look worried, just curious. 

Still finding it hard to breathe, Bucky tries to speak, to say three simple words. He can’t. They’re caught up in his chest as the reality of their lives catches up to him. They should both be dead, long buried in the ground, and yet here they are in a home graciously given to them by a king who surely had better things to spend his money on than a pair of fugitive super-soldiers. 

And yet... 

Bucky has Steve by his side, a small smile spreading over his lips as if he can hear Bucky’s thoughts. Bucky’s vision waivers as tears threaten to fall, because he can see Steve _does_ understand. After all these years, all this time, and everything else, Steve still sees him. 

“I love you, too,” Steve says softly. He doesn’t have to, not when Bucky can see the love in his face. He says it anyway, reaching out to lay a hand on Bucky’s ankle, rubbing gently with that same, small smile on his lips. A smile that says he loves Bucky more than he’d ever thought possible.

Taking a shaky breath, Bucky smiles back.

**Author's Note:**

> **Come and visit Cleo on... places...**
> 
> Tumblr: [@cleo4u2](http://cleo4u2.tumblr.com)  
> Pillowfort: [Cleo4u2](https://www.pillowfort.io/Cleo4u2)  
> Twitter: [@Cleo4u2](https://twitter.com/Cleo4u2)


End file.
